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Mount Vernon 

The Home of Washington 



By J. E. JONES 



U. S. Press Association 
Washington, D. C. 

MCMXV 



. J~78 



Copyright, 1915, by 

U. S. PRESS ASSOCIATION 

Washington, D. C. 



APR -9 1915 



Chapple Publishing Company, Ltd. 
Boston 






, GI.A398317 



"The sweet abiding peace 
of Mount Vernon- " 



T 



HIS volume contains a little narra- 
tive of impressions brought away 
from that tranquil spot on the 
Potomac where lived our beloved 
George and Martha Washington. 
Buff and blue were predominant 
colonial colors, and they have been 
utilized in creating this book to 
emphasize the telling and picturing 
of the story — a story much the same 
as anyone might relate after the 
fires of their patriotism had been 
rekindled at the shrine of Mount 
Vernon. 




Boat Landing at Mount Vernon 




ENSIVE and retrospective, 
my feelings when visiting 
Mount Vernon have been 
much the same as those of 
a great many other people, 
and though I have been there 
time and again, an intangi- 
ble something bids me to 
return — it is the magnet, I 
merely the needle. 

The sweet abiding peace 
of Mount Vernon is a fitting 
reminder that, though the 
master of the place has been 
dead for more than a centu- 
ry, his achievements are still 
fondly remembered by his 

[5] 




Washington's Flute 



countrymen. A nation that 
will always endearingly call 
him the "Father of His 
Country," now sends its pil- 
grims to Mount Vernon, and 
they travel along the paths 
that Washington planned, 
or about the grounds he 
loved, and they return to tell 
you that they experienced an 
unusual contentment which 
they had never felt before. 
Familiarity with these 
scenes appears to intensify 
the romance and sanctity 



[6] 



''About the grounds he 
loved — " 



" — Wro\ 



that hover about the House 
of Washington. 

I believe in the advice : ' 'See 
everything once, ' ' and I have 
put it into practice. Many 
good things worth seeing 
once are worth seeing twice, 
and occasionally things 
worth seeing twice will stand 
still another inspection. But 
go as many times as you 
wish, and you will always 
feel an inexplicable serenity 
and peace when you pass 
within the gates of Mount 
Vernon. 

It is a steep climb up from 
the dock to the buildings. 
Besides the old colonial man- 
sion, there is the spinning 
house, where much material 



[7] 




Washington's Desk and Chair 



[8] 



was prepared for clothing the 
servants, and where rag car- 
pets and other fabrics were 
woven for the use of the 
family. Flax, cotton, wool 
and silk were put through the 
various processes. A dupli- 
cate of the family coach is a 
relic of the place that remains 
in the old coach house. Close 
by one comes on to the office, 
stables, smoke house, laun- 
dry, butler's house, carpenter 




Table in Banquet Hall 



[9] 



shop, ice house, seed house, 
gardener's lodge and the serv- 
ants' quarters, all of which, 
except the stables and quar- 
ters, are painted spotlessly- 
white. 

Nature has done a great 
deal for the scene, and from 
the Virginia hill the outlook 
up the Potomac, and across 
the broad river on the Mary- 




Colonial Stage Coach 



10 



The Stuart Portrait 



JsmhoH tuujft wAT 








11 



land shore, where was located 
and is still preserved Mar- 
shall Hall, the country place 
of John Henson Marshall, is 
all in harmony with the sim- 
ple grandeur that surrounds 
the spot where lived George 
and Martha Washington. 
But withal, the associations 
are what lend the intense 
interest and affection that 
attaches to the place, for had 
Mount Vernon been any- 




JLUUlUll , 

Ceiling Design by Washington 



[12] 



thing else but the home of 
Washington it might pass 
simply as a "nice old country 
place. " 

I can recall a thousand big 
sights and experiences of first 
magnitude, and in our own 
domain they include the 
Maine woods, the roaring Ni- 
agara, the Great Lakes, the 
Rocky Mountains; dips in 
the Atlantic, the Pacific, 
Lake Superior and the Gulf 
of Mexico; a train ride 
through the Culebra cut and 
a walk across the locks at 
Gatun; stalking deer in the 
forests, whipping the trout 
streams in the Middle West 
and hauling in the lines while 
deep-sea fishing off Cape Cod 

[13] 



or pulling salmon from Lake 
Sebago. And then there has 
been the laughter and gaiety 
of the "Great White Way," 
and long years of life in the 
cities since I forsook my 
country newspaper and the 




-'i 



V 



There are four swords ' 



[14] 



charms of life among the best 
friends I shall ever know. 
Lastly, there is Washington, 
my home — a great kaleido- 
scopic affair, a perpetual 
show and museum, always 
filled with life and interest. 
In my own way I can har- 
monize all these, and they 
are integral parts of what 
might be termed the * 'scheme 
of things." 

But Mount Vernon fur- 
nishes a singular contrast to 




" Old maps of the world" 
[151 



all else, for it has its indi- 
vidual and peculiar way of 
sending thrills through one's 
system — it bids you pause in 
contemplation. Perhaps you 
murmur a silent prayer as 
you eagerly lean forward to 




Surveyor's Tripod Used by Washington 



[16] 



Washington's State Sword 

behold the caskets within the 
tomb that contains all that is 
mortal of George and Mar- 
tha Washington. And you 
are proud of the patriotic 
sensations you feel in the 
knowledge that you are an 
American and are standing 
before your country's great- 
est shrine. 

At the well where Wash- 
ington quenched his thirst 
from a gourd, you use a 
modern sanitary cup, and 
drink the nectar supplied 
from Mother Earth. In the 
Mansion itself you marvel 

[17] 



' , H' 




m A 




" Nature has done a great deal for this scene " 



18 



nsttj'W ,P end 



Houdon Bust 

Drawing by N. A. Witten 



before the relics and me- 
mentos of the Washington 
family, and almost uncon- 
sciously exclaim: " Wonder- 
ful!" There are four swords, 
three of which Washington 
presented to his nephews 
with the injunction, not to 
unsheath them for the pur- 
pose of shedding blood, ex- 
cept it be in self-defence or 
in defence of their country 
and its rights, and in the 
latter case to keep them un- 
sheathed and prefer falling 
with them in their hands to 
the relinquishment thereof." 
Then there may be seen 
Washington's flute, his 
hunting horn, a huge key to 
the Bastile, a rug woven by 

[19] 




When Candles were 
kept burning 



order of Louis XVI, and sent 
by him as a present to Gen- 
eral Washington. The 
library and numerous pieces 
of furniture, including his 
desk, chair, books, letters 
and records in his handwrit- 
ing, a globe containing old 



[20] 



maps of the world, his sur- 
veyor's tripod, tables, clocks, 
carpets and wearing apparel, 
lend their touch of interest 
to the rooms. 

LaFayette was assigned a 
chamber at Mount Vernon, 
where he stayed much of his 
time, and among his many 
gifts are the artistic firedogs 
to be seen in the banquet 
hall. 

The original plantation 
consisted of 8,000 acres, and 
of this 237.5 acres are re- 




Ceiling Decoration by Washington 
[21] 



tained in the present estate. 
The flower gardens, which 
are kept up as they were de- 
signed by Martha Washing- 
ton, the original hedge sur- 
rounding it and set out under 
the direction of Washington 
himself, the paths, roadways, 
boat landing, and a thousand 
possessions and reminders of 
the Washington family, per- 
form their silent part in sup- 
plying the satisfaction that 
drops its mantle about the 
pilgrims to Mount Vernon. 

But quite naturally the 
things that stood most for 
the personal comfort and 
affected the manner of living 
of the Washington family, 
afford particular interest. In 

[22] 



Washington's Seal — the design of 
which suggested the American flag 



a spacious kitchen at Mount 
Vernon there remain the 
relics of pioneer days. The 
meats for the Washington 
family were cooked at an 
open fire and turned on a 
"spit"; their coffee was 
boiled on the hearth, and 
their bread baked in a crude 
oven. Iron kettles and pots, 
ancient looking cooking ves- 
sels and utensils, such as 
could be used in a fireplace, 
are all well preserved. A 




'Washington quenched his thirst 
from a gourd" 



[23] 




Brass Warming Pan 



piggin, which answered the 
uses of a pail, is an inter- 
esting relic. A beautiful 
brass warming pan mutely 
tells the story of chilly sheets 
and cold rooms inadequately 
heated by open fires. 

[24] 



These people never saw a 
modern range or a cook 
stove, and we can imagine 
that, as the icy blast drove 
across the Potomac, George 
and Martha Washington 
often suffered from the cold, 
since they were strangers to 
hot- water heaters, furnaces, 
coal stoves, or even "air 
tights," which would have 
been a wonderful success 
in this region of thick 
woods. 

In the banquet hall a hand- 
some Carara marble mantel 
surmounts the fireplace, and 
the story that goes with it 
relates to the manner of its 
gift by Samuel Vaughn of 
London, who sent it on a 



25 



sailing vessel to Alexandria, 
Virginia, a few miles from 
Mount Vernon. There it re- 
mained until Spring, for 
Washington wrote that the 
wagon roads were rough and 
out of repair, and the river 
frozen over and navigation 
closed. Today an electric 
line runs through Alexandria 
to the gate of Mount Vernon, 
and the steamboats land at 
the wharf. The relic of light- 
ing in Washington's day, to 
be seen in the kitchen, is a 
set of old molds used in the 
making of tallow candles. 

The voices hush as the visi- 
tors, passing through the 
mansion, stop before a cham- 
ber door over which there is 

[26] 



bsuohd won u "oj\1-\dWV' 



Martha" a name beloved 




A Mirror 



an inscription saying that 
Washington died in that 
room. The original bed, six 
and a half feet long, and the 
same width, with its four 
high posts and canopy, is of 
unusual interest, for on it the 
great and good man died. 
His mother's desk and arm- 
chair, a military trunk of 
ancient construction, a 



:27] 




'Material was prepared for clothing' 



28] 



bureau, washstand and mir- 
ror, all used by Washington, 
are in place. It is sad to be 
reminded that Washington 
was likely bled to death by 
old-fashioned attendants and 
physicians, for it was the 
custom in those days to bleed 
for fever, and the popular 
remedies were lances and 
calomel. It was three days 
before the news reached 
Philadelphia, for this was in 
1799, and there was no tele- 
graph service to carry the 
news, no cable to flash a bul- 
letin across the ocean, no 
nearby wireless as at present 
to carry the sad message to 
the then unheard of stations 
at Panama and San Fran- 



29 



cisco; there were no tele- 
phones, and messengers 
scoured the country on horse- 
back to bring the physicians 
to the bedside of America's 
greatest man in the critical 
hour of his illness. And 
when the summons did arrive 
there were no swift-running 
automobiles to speed the men 
of presumed science to the 
side of the sick man. Wash- 
ington, who lay in his room 
and gazed out over the Poto- 




A Stirrup 



SO 



"Washington . . . gazed out 
over the Potomac" 



mac, never dreamed that 
some day the very move- 
ments and actions of illus- 
trious men like himself would 
be preserved to posterity by 
means of the moving picture. 
In passing I want to men- 
tion the wide variations in 
likenesses shown of Wash- 
ington in the best pictures 
at Mount Vernon. Gilbert 
Stuart appears to have done 
justice to his subject, and his 
"Unfinished Portrait/' now 
preserved in Boston, greatly 
pleased Washington, and he 
authorized Stuart to make 
copies from it. Seven copies 
were made, and one of these 
hangs in the banquet hall at 
Mount Vernon. But the 



31 




The Colonial Way 



321 



original, the 'Unfinished 
Portrait," was never deliv- 
ered to Washington. 

Houdon, the French sculp- 
tor, labored conscientiously 
to get a life mask of Wash- 
ington, and finally succeeded. 
From clay gathered at Mount 
Vernon, combined with plas- 
ter of paris, he made a bust of 
the neck and head of Wash- 
ington. The Mount Vernon 
Ladies* Association succeeded 
by great effort in preserving 
this wonderful work of 
art, after it had begun to 
crumble. It is in a glass case 
in the banquet hall, and 
shows Washington as a man 
of very strong features — quite 
the ideal type accepted by 



33 



those who have studied the 
varying pictures and busts 
of General Washington. 

Houdon returned to Eu- 
rope with his life mask, and 
afterwards there appeared 
statues and busts purporting 
to have been made with this 
life mask as the model. One 
of these is at Richmond, an- 
other in the National Capi- 
tol — but they are all untrue 
to the original, and to the 
Stuart portraits. 

Other artists have sue- 




Firedogs Presented to Washington by LaFayette 



34" 



ceeded in creating sketches 
typifying a fine-skinned un- 
wrinkled face, to which they 
have added a fluffily clothed 
body, crowning the creations 
with a bewigged head on 
which a number five hat 
would fit with nicety. In the 
paintings and statues in the 
Hall of Fame at the National 
Capitol, in the Boston Pub- 
lic Library and the City Hall 
of New York, I have seen 
these same elaborate misrep- 
resentations. 

Unfortunately some of 
this work is credited to the 
Houdon life mask, but go 
to Mount Vernon and see 
for yourself and you will be 
convinced that the great 



35] 




sculptor is to be held blame- 
less for the libels upon his 
work. 

A good picture of Wash- 
ington, in his last years, 
hangs in the old Masonic 
lodge room at Alexandria, 
Virginia. General Washing- 
ton was master of the Alex- 
andria Lodge, and approved 
the portrait which hangs on 
the wall. It was produced by 
Williams, an obscure artist 
who lived in Philadelphia. In 



[se; 



this hall there are preserved 
many interesting Washing- 
ton relics, including his Mas- 
ter Mason's apron, and the 
chair in which he sat as mas- 
ter. There is also the trowel 
used by General Washington 
in laying the cornerstone of 
the National Capitol, his 
spurs, pocket compass, the 
lesser lights and the hour 
glass of the lodge. 




The chair in which he sat as master ' 



[371 



And lastly, let us climb 
to the attic on the third floor 
of the mansion at Mount 
Vernon, for here we find 
the room in which Martha 
Washington spent her last 
days and died. A chair, 
dressing glass, desk and 
dressing set are among the 
original relics to be found 
in this room. Only a small, 
narrow window lets in the 
light. Here the great wife 
of America's first President 
spent her days in compara- 
tive solitude; for, although it 
is one of the least desirable 
rooms in the mansion, the 
tomb, where her husband's 
body rested, lay in plain view 
beneath the window, and 



38] 



And his countrymen erected a great 
monument to his lasting memory 



faithful Martha Washington 
kept her eyes fastened upon 
that spot until Time closed 
her own lids and she was 
carried out to be laid by 
the side of her husband and 
lover. 

The picture of Mount Ver- 
non can never be drawn by 
artist and writer except in- 
adequately, but as time goes 
on thousands of American 
citizens visiting the place will 
feel the rich benefits which I 
have so poorly expressed. 
That this privilege is pre- 
served for them is due to the 
fact that when the place was 
run down, when it was going 
to rack and ruin, and when 
the government itself had 



39 



failed to rise to the occasion 
and take charge of the sacred 
spot; after old Virginia had 
turned its back upon its re- 
sponsibility of caring for the 
greatest landmark within its 
borders, Miss Ann Pamela 
Cunningham of South Caro- 




1 The piggin, which answered the uses of a pail 

[40] 




Washington's Book Plate 



lina undertook to organize 
the Mount Vernon Ladies' 
Association; and the story of 
her struggles through long 
years, during all of which 
time she was in an invalid 
condition, is a chapter in 
womanly heroism and devo- 
tion to a self- enforced duty 
that furnished as its unselfish 
reward the preservation of 
the Washington Mansion, 



ii 



when otherwise the chances 
were that it would have 
crumbled to decay. 

One of the tasks was to 
raise more than $200,000 by 
public subscription, and 
$68,294.59 of this amount 
was secured by Hon. Edward 
Everett of Massachusetts, 
who lectured throughout the 
country. 

Once in awhile some Con- 
gressman asks for "an inves- 
tigation of Mount Vernon, 
or presents a resolution for 
the government to purchase 
the place; but when these 
same statesmen find out how 
much better the ladies have 
done with their charge than 
the government is doing with 

[42] 




' You eagerly bend forward to behold the caskets ' 



48 



anything in its care, they 
usually end their interference 
by commending these noble 
women, representing many 
states, who have done such a 
valuable service to their coun- 
try, through their custody 
and management of every 
patriotic American's shrine — 
Mount Vernon. 



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